profile

First (and long overdue post) of 2012! Started a new job so I've been pretty busy. With the new job theme I have created a new task in Tasker to make my phone more work friendly. I know there are a load of similar automatic phone profile scripts. Most make your phone go to silent but I need my phone to be more businessy! With my job I am often at clients offices and as a result my mobile will be a key form of communication for my office to get hold of me.

I want to have a boring businessy ringtone in case it is overheard at client offices, I also want my SMS and email alerts to be silent and not have the distraction of vibration. I do however need vibration for calls otherwise I probably wouldn't even notice them!

Set normal profile

Context

Day: Sat and Sun

(this isn't really important but worth NOT overlapping with work times in case you enable this profile)

Tasks

Default Ringtone [ Type:Ringer Sound:03onceinawhileRingtone ]

Alarm Volume [ Level:4 Display:Off Sound:Off ]

Notification Volume [ Level:5 Display:Off Sound:Off ]

Ringer Volume [ Level:6 Display:Off Sound:Off ]

Media Volume [ Level:2 Display:Off Sound:Off ]

Vibrate On Notify [ Set:On ]

Vibrate On Ringer [ Set:On ]

This script will normally be disabled but by going into tasks and hitting the test button (looks like a play button) it will reset your settings in case something goes wrong or you are testing other settings.

Set work profile

Inspired by Lifehacker's App Of The Day suggestion for Auto SMS, I decided once again that instead of having another app installed I would change my Tasker profile.

In Some Tasker Profiles I detail how to set up a profile to read out a SMS while driving. As I need the same contexts I will simply add a task to the profile.

A quick reminder of original profile

Context

Event: Received Text

State: Power [ Source:Any ]

Application: CoPilot Live EU Major

Tasks

Wait [ Seconds:4 ]

Say [ Text:%SMSRN sent the following SMS: %SMSRB ]

If I'm driving for a long time, I'd always have the phone plugged into a charger and on copilot. The reasoning behind the order of the contexts is predominantly for the sake of battery life (minimising the context checks). The delay in saying the SMS is to allow the notification tone to finish.

The extra task you need for auto response

Send SMS [ Number:%SMSRF Message:[Auto Response] I am currently driving and will get back to you soon. James Store In Messaging App:On]

I have formatted the above to make it more clear. Whether or not you 'store in messaging app' makes no difference to sending the message, I simply wanted a record of what has been sent back and forth.

I downloaded an app I saw yesterday, it was designed to automatically change your volume to a predefined level when you plugged in your headphones then back to a different predefined level when you took them out. I thought that's a great idea and proceeded to download and install straight away...

It was only this morning I realised how pointless that was, I could create a profile for tasker which would actually do the job better. Stupid thing is that it's probably one of the most obvious/easiest profiles to even create!

Context: State > Hardware> Headset Plugged > No Mic

Task: Audio > Media Volume > 2

If you plug your headphones in during configuration you can hear how loud 2 is and adjust accordingly. Media volume is a setting and so is automatically reset when the context state ends. In addition, I also have

App > Load App > Music

to open my music app when I plug in headphones.

Why is this any better?

It's better than the app I downloaded because it resets the media volume to whatever it was before hand. Imagine you want to be quiet on a train (volume set low) and later plug in headphones to listen to music. If you then unplug your headphones you wouldn't want your phone to suddenly be normal loudness, you would want it to still be quiet. [Subtle advantage, I'll accept that]

If you don't have tasker, the concept is good so you will probably want it anyway... the app was called Hearing Saver.

I've been using Tasker on my phone for a while now. In short, it's a graphical programming app to allow you to automate your Android phone. You pick conditions eg plugged into power, then pick tasks eg turn WiFi on and screen brightness to automatic. Although not the easiest app to use it is one of the most powerful I've come across. I've included a QR Code at the bottom to find Tasker on your phone (use Google Goggles or similar). Continue reading →